The only way to take an AP exam is through a school. My public school system (Montgomery County in MD) has been very accommodating. I will touch base with my local high school early January to let the AP coordinator know that I want to sign up my son for three exams, and that person will contact me late January or early February before ordering the exams. At that point, I'll have to pay the fee for each exam ($86.00 per exam in 2009). Then a week or so before the exam, my son will go to the school to fill out the administrative portion of the AP form (name, address, grade, etc.). The school system is large in our county, and I can't think of an AP exam that you wouldn't be able to take in at least one school. We are lucky:-) For people who are not so lucky, the College Board has some suggestions: http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/ap/grades/prepare/homeschool (tiny url: http://tinyurl.com/687kmv ). Best, Patricia

Hi Nissi, Not to be too picky and technical here, but the syllabus approval process is not a certification process. The College Board calls it an "audit". The College Board is not involved at all in teachers' certification. Because my son took AP Human Geo (sometimes shortened as HUG -- cute, no?) two years ago, I did not have to have a syllabus approved. The process kicked in this past school year. So I'll answer your question in two parts: 1. For Human Geo, we used the 7th edition of the DeBlij book (there is a newer edition, which came out right after I bought the book), Culture, Society, and Space. That was our main text. Then I supplemented with prep books, newspaper articles, and another book (Cultural Landscapes, by Rubinstein). I was also on the EDG (Electronic Discussion Group) for AP HUG teachers. I did not have a syllabus, but I downloaded the course description from AP Central and I read it carefully to make sure he had covered all the required topics, one way or another. 2. Last year, I submitted a syllabus for Environmental Science and had it approved within 2 hours! Basically, I typed up the TOC of our main book (Environment, by Raven) and included details (subtopics in the chapters, etc.), as necessary. Then I printed the course description. For each item in the course description that was covered in the TOC, I inserted a text box in my Word document, labeling the required element according to its letter on the syllabus, e.g. IV.b.2. I crossed out every item from the course description that I was able to transfer to my TOC. When I came up with an item in the course description that was not in my TOC, I searched the index to see if the terms appeared in the book. That worked for "urban heat island," for example. I found the page number in the book and then inserted the term "urban heat island" in my TOC for that corresponding page. Then I found out that my book was weak on economic issues (and a couple of other points), so I searched for websites that would cover the topics from the course description and added them to my TOC. I included all those websites in my syllabus. The last page of my syllabus was a table of reference. I listed all the course description topics by their designated numbers/letters, and wrote the corresponding page on my syllabus, which about 18 pages long. On my syllabus, I also included resources other than books -- websites, lectures from the Teaching Company, programs at local museums or science centers, etc. It seems like a hassle, but it really wasn't that bad once I figured out I could use the TOC of our main text as a spine:-) On the link I gave you earlier ( http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/Controller.jpf ), click on AP Audit Information and follow the instruction. You have to open an account (which is free) and take it from there. Again, you do not have to have a syllabus approved for your child to take the exam. It's only if you want to be allowed to designate the course as "AP Human Geography" (or whatever other AP class the CB offers.) I've started a syllabus for AP French Language. I was hoping to get to it this summer, but ran out of time. I'll see what I can do in the next couple of weeks:-) Patricia

In North Carolina or anywhere else, you can have your child self-study for AP exams. My son did just that for Human Geography in 8th grade and Environmental Science in 9th grade. He received a 5 on both exams, which is the highest score possible. It can be done! The College Board does not place any restrictions on who can teach an AP course and who can take an AP exam. Go to the AP Central website, run by the College Board: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/Controller.jpf There, click on AP Courses and Exams on the left side, and surf to your heart's content! From that website, you can join the electronic discussion group for the AP class you're interested in. AP teachers from private and public schools share a lot of information. Since last school year, you may label a course as AP + the official name of the course on your child's transcript only if the College Board has approved your syllabus for that course. For example, you must have your syllabus approved if you want to label the course "AP Human Geography." However, you do not have to have a syllabus approved for your child to take the AP exam. For example, you could write on the transcript "Human Geography [prep. class for AP exam]", and that would be fine. If you want your child to take an AP exam in May, I suggest that you don't delay getting the material for the course. It will take you a while to select the textbook(s), order them, receive them, etc. Patricia

I hope I'm not getting my letters mixed up, but I've heard that Bio-E (environmental) covers less challenging material than Bio-M (molecular), but Bio-M has a gentler curve. Am I getting this right? Patricia

That's the software that came with the Honors Algebra II course that my son took last year in the online class he took through with CTY (Center for Talented Youth) at Johns Hopkins University. I think it's pretty thorough! Right now, the Homeschool Buyers Co-op has a special rate for Thinkwell videos. You may want to check them out. Membership is free: http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/homeschool/ Patricia

Best wishes to your son, then! The last course we did was 1st grade French, and that was 8 years ago. It makes me feel so old:-( Patricia

My older son did the full CNED program when we started homeschooling, in 4th grade, and continued for a couple of years. Then we started devising our own program. He took (and passed) the BEPC exam at the end of 9th grade with no problem. My younger son did the French language arts program only for 1st grade. One very annoying aspect of the French educational system is that there is a lot of repetition from one year to the next (particularly in the earlier grades, but mainly in French in later years), with a little more new information thrown in each time. It annoyed me a lot when I was a kid (I went to school in France from pre-K to my master's degree in English and two years of training at a translating school in Paris), but it drove my older son absolutely nuts! And my younger one begged me not to enroll him again:-( If your child can stomach the CNED through 12th grade and then passes the French baccalaureate, then you've had a good investment for your $1,000. I've heard that kids in my area who go to the French International School (which follows the same program as the CNED or any high school in France) often get credit for about one year of college-level work when they pass the baccalaureate. And if they leave school after 11th grade, they get a high school diploma recognized by our state (Maryland). So, yes, the educational level is typically higher than in an American high school. But you definitely lose your academic freedom. Patricia

Your point is very well taken, Caroline, and I agree with everything you said. I live in the Washington, D.C. area, where Jay Mathews is well-known because of his weekly column in the Washington Post:-) My comment was in reference to kids who take 8-10 AP *exams*, if not more. Those are the students who take the classes AND the exams because they want to build up their portfolio and they know they can get good scores. They want to increase their chances of being admitted to prestigious schools and hope to earn scholarship money. I'm sure they accrue over 21 college credits by the time they graduate, and they don't lose their freshman status. I hope I am not making it sound as if AP is the only way to go! It's a great fit for some students, and not for others -- who can find different ways of demonstrating their academic and personal strengths. "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted," as Einstein said! Patricia

I think there is a misunderstanding about the 21 credit limit. I know of many homeschooled students who have accrued 30, 40 college credits and more and who have gone to college as freshmen. In my county, there are also many public school students who take 8 or 10 APs, some even more. That must push many of them over the 21 credit limit. Presumably, the ones who take all these AP exams are the very good students -- and they typically get the 4's and the 5's that give credit. As a 9th grader, my son has already taken 3 AP exams (one last year, with a score of 5, and 2 this year, where he expects a 5 on each as well). Next school year, as a 10th grader, he'll take a music theory class at our local 4-year university (worth 3 credits) and chemistry at our community college in addition to 3 AP classes (2 online and 1 at home with me.) In all likelihood, he'll have way over 21 credits by the end of 10th grade -- and I am not worried in the least. What needs to be kept in mind is the difference between non-matriculated and matriculated students. The former are students who are enrolled on a semester-by-semester or course-by-course basis. The latter have been admitted to the university through a formal admissions process and are pursuing a degree. Not all credits earned by a non-matriculated student will transfer when the student applies to college as a freshman. But the student won't be disqualified from being considered a freshman if he or she has more than "x" number of credits. Credits earned as a matriculated student are a different matter -- they can certainly push applicants into the "transfer student" category (and loss of scholarships available to freshmen). However, students earning college credit under dual enrollment status (like high school students, whether they are homeschooled or not) do not fit into the matriculated students category. Maybe the counselor at your college meant to say that your son would have to declare a major if he earned more than 21 credits from that college? If your son is interested in taking an AP class next year, I'd say go ahead and let him do it without any worry! Oh, to answer your original question: if he self-studies, it is up to him whether or not he takes the test. You can still include the AP class on his transcript, marking it as AP, as long as your syllabus has been approved by the College Board. If he signs up with a provider, you have to ask the provider. Taking the test may be optional, or there may be a penalty for not taking it (for instance, the student would not receive a transcript for the course from the provider or not be allowed to write the class on his transcript as having been taken through that provider.) It's up to the provider/school -- not to the College Board. Patricia

The SAT/SAT Subject Tests code is 970000. I just looked it up on my son's admission ticket. Here's a link to a College Board page on homeschooled students and the SAT. It tells you where to look for the code... but does not give it on that page! http://www.collegeboard.com/parents/tests/meet-tests/21302.html For the SAT I and Subject Tests, the code is the same nationwide. For the PSAT and AP exams, it varies from state to state. PSAT: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/psat/reg/homeschool/state-codes.html I can't find the link for the school code to use with AP exams. I know it for Maryland (992199). Patricia

Earlier in the school year, I joined a yahoogroup for people taking CLEP exams. Surfing the web, I had found the following website http://clepprep.tripod.com/cleplessonplans/ that led me to the group. Maybe it would be a good place for you to get specific recommendations! I thought I would have my son take the CLEP exam in French, but I finally decided against it and withdrew from the group, which was not a good fit at all for me. Patricia

Here's the link to the AP exams page: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/exam/exam_questions/index.html That's for all courses, just pick the one you want to check. For US Gvt specifically, go to: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/exam/exam_questions/2086.html and click on "grade distribution" for any given year (except 2008, of course). The percentage of students who score a 5 is very low compared to other AP exams. Usually, around 10-11% of students get the top score. And, yes, it is not unusual at all to see students work on the first portion of the exam (multiple choice questions), and just go to sleep when it comes to writing essays. Sad, but true... Patricia

Does anybody know what the percentage of students who get a 5 on this exam is so low? It seems to hover between 6 and 8. Yikes! Patricia